A connector assembly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,877 comprises, a conductive ground bus, for connection to ground wires of at least one electrical cable, and conductive signal contacts for connection to signal wires of a least one electrical cable, the signal contacts being joined to the ground bus, an insulative housing block applied over the contacts, at least a selected one of the contacts being detached from the ground bus, and at least one of the signal contacts remaining joined to the ground bus. The connector assembly is constructed for ease of manufacture. For example, the contacts and the ground bus are joined together in a lead frame to eliminate separate parts. The housing block advantageously holds the contacts in desired positions when the contacts are connected to the wires. The contacts are held on pitch spacings that correspond to the pitch spacings of contact receiving cavities of an insulative housing. The contacts are assembled into the cavities of the housing as a group, rather than as individual contacts.
The contacts on the lead frame, being fabricated of thin metal, are easily deflected to misaligned positions. A concern exits that the contacts will be held by a housing block in these misaligned positions. For example, a housing can be applied over the contacts by injection molding fluent plastic material over portions of the contacts. The solidified plastic material is relied on to hold the contacts in their positions. If the contacts are misaligned while the housing is applied, the contacts will be held by the housing in misaligned positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,594 discloses a support member for holding ends of contacts while removing material from the middle of a strip of contacts to form electrically independent contacts.